Wednesday, June 10, 2009

what's up the pike: no, seriously, styrofoam trees

East Silver Spring's "Auto Row" in 2007.

- Following an investigation by the state's attorney general office, the gossip website PeoplesDirt.com shut down this week. MoCo school officials condemned the message board, which was based out of Colorado, for posts on everything from racist rants to unanswered suicide notes.

- High rents getting you down? A White Oak man posted an ad on Craigslist for a $600/month room in a house on a acre lot near New Hampshire and Randolph. The catch? He's looking for a fellow nudist to share a bathroom with:

"Being nude is great, but it can be rather confining when living with non-nudist . . . and always having to cover up and be made to feel as though something is WRONG with being nude. I enjoy the natural liberation and freedom that comes with being nude in the company of others. Many of us are already nudist (e.g., when alone sometimes) but don’t know it."

Other perks listed include an "Olympic style home gym", high-speed Internet access, and easy access to public transportation.

- A group of students at Piney Branch Elementary School in Takoma Park are protesting styrofoam trays and have already raised $9,000 to buy a dishwasher and reusable dishes for their cafeteria. They've already won the support of their school principal and the City Council - but MCPS says it's not worth the expense. "It would cost more in Takoma Park to produce a meal than it would elsewhere," complains one official. Of course, it costs more to buy a house in Takoma Park than it does elsewhere - but people still think it's worth it. Why not indulge these kids and save some styrofoam trees from getting cut down while you're at it?

- The Post Real Estate Section profiles East Silver Spring as a place where neighbors banded together to stop The Purple Line and Big, Bad Developers, proving once again that nothing builds a friendship like a common enemy. While the writer didn't interview anyone on the pro-development side (paging Thayer Avenue, please), those he did speak to raised an important point about keeping the neighborhood's small businesses intact, most notably those along Selim Road, dubbed "Auto Row" for its number of body shops. "I don't see why we can't have an industrial area and high-end condos," civic activist Karen Roper, who I first wrote about here in 2006, is quoted as saying.

- If you haven't already, check out my "Things I Love About East County" list (parts ONE and TWO), and put your two cents in. Together, we can beat the "67 Things We Love About Bethesda" list.

1 comment:

That fluffy article in WaPo Real Estate on East SS was a joke and far from covering the local issues in a balanced way. I realize it was just meant to give a flavor of the community for those house-hunting, but IMHO it did nothingto help on that front.